Thursday, December 11, 2008
The GOP Will Happily Destroy America, Just To Get Their Way
This is about union-busting.0 comments
It is about nothing other THAN union-busting.
In this video, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), does the bidding of the alien car makers, even if it spells the destruction of what's left of the U.S. economy. (Could only find a link. If I can add the video directly later, I will.—GN)
Simply put, the GOP just does not care about causing damage, AS LONG AS THEY GET THEIRS. In this case, theirs is defined as the two-headed dog of wiping out labor unions and helping out the non-union manufacturers who've nestled into their anti-worker states.
Yes, Americans nationwide have bail-out fatigue.
Yes, the Bush White House and this current, heavily GOP-influenced Congress have screwed up the necessary moves that have needed to be made.
Granted.
But, the destruction of the U.S. auto makers will serve no useful purpose other than to assist the financial and competitive position of the alien car makers from Japan, Germany, the UK and Korea that have been sliding auto plants into the U.S.
On their way out the door after getting their asses soundly kicked and their tenets roundly repudiated in November, the Me-First Party is making a concerted last effort to destroy every vestige of American labor unions they can get away with—EVEN IF DOING SO DESTROYS THE VERY COUNTRY THEY SWORE AN OATH TO DEFEND. Even if it throws millions of Americans onto the street with no prospects.
Let's be very clear, here. The GOP talking points on the Big 3 loan package have—from the very beginning—been aimed at destroying The United Auto Workers union, and forcing the U.S. auto makers to shred and renounce all of their contracts with the UAW.
This has been a well orchestrated campaign, right from Mitt Romney's first whining about the UAW at the outset of the auto makers' woes this go-'round.
Later, they gave us the bogus "$70/hr." slime, which still shows up in papers around the country and on cable, even though it's been debunked as self-serving crap, time and again.
Once again, just so we are all clear:The average UAW worker makes $29/hr.; the alien car makers in right-to-work states pay $26/hr., on average. Too close; no slime possible there.
Even the benefits are almost comparable. Hmmm, still not slime-worthy.
No, it's in the legacy charges of pensions and health care for retirees that the slime-meisters come up with the payments that allow them to distort their arguments, and sell them as gospel. The alien car makers in the South simply are too new to have any appreciable number of retirees—plus, they weren't around in the era of pensions, so they don't carry much in the way of retirement costs. If you'll recall, that was the main idea behind the creation of the 401k and IRAs—to be able to shift the cost of retirement away from corporations (to reward lifelong loyalty) and onto the workers themselves (every man, woman and child for their own damned self, bub). Sweet.
The new plants in the South have little-to-no retiree/pension costs. Detroit has massive retiree costs, since they were the engine that created Middle Class America after WWII, with all those pensions and health costs of "the Greatest Generation" and their children, the pre- and early Boomers, still on the books.
As they have tried consistently since Republicans under Newt Gingrich and later George W. Bush came to power, the GOP would happily throw your parents and grandparents out into the streets to starve and to die. It's in their DNA.
Additionally, press accounts consistently neglect to insert the fact that every GOP Senator you see grabbing air time on this issue is from A RIGHT-TO-WORK STATE, where they've effectively killed union participation, and have heavy support from alien car makers in direct competition with Detroit. Right-to-work companies are free to abuse and underpay their workers with impunity.
Take a look at this, from something called the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation (which we assume is only too happy to help you protect your right to be abused in the workplace):
I love the Forced-Unionism State line. They forgot to include "Evil." These folks are a hoot.
Does anything about the pattern of the color of the states jump out at you?
How about...
Pretty striking, no? Same pattern. Swap a few states in either direction, and they're the same.
Republican-held states have destroyed collective bargaining in their territories, allowing businesses to act in any anti-worker ways they so choose. If a worker objects, he or she stands alone. Just the way the company wants it. It's called "business-friendly."
States behind the Red Curtain also tend to reside at the lower reaches of education rankings, so the GOP happily keeps its constituents ignorant and pliable. Since they have no great supply of natural resources to interest corporations, these state leaders must offer a third-world-level workforce, who have been indoctrinated in the idea that unions are bad and evil and will abuse your right to be a rugged individual. Who cares if you're only making 60 cents on the dollar, if you can "be your own man, dammit"?
So, now that the GOP is being booted out the door nationally and has had to claw desperately to hold onto seats even in their own territories, this is their last opportunity to do favors for the alien car makers who have become such major players in these right-to-work states.
Kill General Motors; make Toyota and Mazda happy. Kill Ford; make Volkswagon or BMW happy.
Sens. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), John Ensign, Mitch McConnell (R-KY, which isn't r-t-w, but that's not stopping HIM!), David (Hooker-boy) Vitter (R-LA) and Larry (Widestance) Craig (R-ID) and others, are all only too happy to keep their bona fides intact with these European and Asian corporations in order to keep the campaign donation largess flowing. Each of these men have tackled any reporter and cameraman within 20 yards of them, to ensure their camera time as they seek to send the U.S. over an economic cliff, simply to aid a contributor.
There is a term used to describe supporting and doing the bidding of foreign interests over the economic and security interests of the United States of America—especially, when it's done for money.
That word?
Treason.
posted by Gotham 2:04 PM
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